Lessons Learned ...

Oh my, what a jam-packed weekend! Thank goodness, things finally slowed down a little bit by Sunday evening! This weekend included: a date night for Corey and I, a farm tour with some good and patient friends, cooking, shopping, chores, and eventually a little relaxing = )

Here are some of the valuable lessons that I learned along the way:

Lesson 1. Corey and I definitely need to find a way to schedule a date night more often than every 3 months or so. It is so wonderful to just enjoy each other once in a while without interruption and allow ourselves to be more than just mommy and daddy. Not that we don't cherish those roles, but it was lovely to get out and just have fun for a little while, too.

Lesson 2. On future date nights, I will implement a 2 drink maximum for myself. As much fun as it was to let myself go, the price my children, my husband, my friends and I had to pay the next 2 days was not quite worth it. I am not the best person, wife, mom, or friend I can be while feeling nauseous with a pounding headache during recovery time!

Lesson 3. During a long outing with the kids, take the few extra minutes to pack a cooler with healthy snack options such as fruit, veggies and cheese. Even though the convenience and portability of the pre-packaged graham crackers, rice krispie bars, and cheesey crackers is awesome ... after several hours they just leave you with carbo-loaded, sugared-up children who are still hungry and are now dealing with the comedown of the sugar high. Not so fun for anyone ... especially the still recovering momma = )~

Lesson 4. This is more of a note to self ... quit beating yourself up so bad. It's only a blip. We're not all perfect all the time!

Lesson 5. When preparing to make caramel apples (yes, yes, I know ... more sugar!) it may not be the best idea to enlist the help of your 2 year old sugar baby to unwrap the caramels. Several, might somehow mysteriously disappear!

Lesson 6. Even though he can be extremely ornery and testy, remember how good of a helper your oldest child can be. Keeping him occupied and positive praise does wonders for your relationship and his attitude!

Lesson 7. When making caramel apples, don't expect the little red-headed foodie of the house to leave the apples to set up. It is more than he can resist to have a taste "right now, momma!"

Lesson 8. Just because Mother Nature presents an opportunity to talk to your children about the birds and the bees, doesn't mean you have to go there. It opens up a whole can of worms that you might not be ready to deal with yet.

Lesson 9. There is not much cuter in this world than a wild-haired redheaded boy holding flowers. The picture says it all = )

Lesson 10. Nature is resilient - thank goodness! This poor sapling is on it's 3rd planting. SOMEHOW, it keeps getting bent over, ran over, tackled over, etc. and snapping at the ground level. But amazingly, by just putting it in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks, the roots keep on growing right back. Hopefully, we are teaching our kids that even though accidents happen, if we keep at it and have patience, we can fix what we have broken.

Lesson 11. No matter how dirty or grubby our little guys get, there's not much that a good warm bath can't wash away. Stress included!